Building collapse: More heads to roll, Sanwo-Olu vows

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised a thorough inquiry into the collapse of a 21-storey building in Ikoyi, adding that the full wrath of the law would be brought on anyone found to have compromised.

The governor gave the assurance while setting up a six-man panel to probe the remote and immediate cause of the building, mandating them to submit their report within 30 days.

President of Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP), President of Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr. Toyin Ayinde, is the chairman of the panel, while Ekundayo Onajobi, a lawyer in private law firm, is the Secretary.

Other panel members are a structural engineer, Dr. Akintilo Idris Adeleke; an architect, Yinka Ogundairo; representative of Institute of Builders, Mr. Godfrey O. Godfrey, and Mrs. Bunmi Ibrahim, a property lawyer.

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The panel’s terms of reference also include ascertaining whether there was a compromise of the building codes by the developer, his contractor and statutory regulatory agencies.

It would be recalled that the governor had suspended the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Arc. Gbolahan Oki over the incident.

Describing the event as “a monumental disaster”, Sanwo-Olu hinted that mistakes must have been made in the process of developing the collapsed structure. The Governor promised a thorough inquiry into the matter, adding that the full wrath of the law would be brought on anyone found to have compromised.

The Governor who visited the scene of the incident on Wednesday, charged the investigative team to explore all angles to determine the cause of the collapse.

Sanwo-Olu said: “We’ve promised to be open and thorough in investigating the cause of the collapse. In that regard, I have set up a high-powered professional investigative panel whose membership consists of professionals outside of the Government. The panel members have been given clear terms of reference and we are giving them a 30-day assignment to tell us what has gone wrong at the site.

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“The panel will be finding out who the culprits are. The investigation will start from the heads of regulatory agencies. Be rest assured that if there are other people that are found wanting in the course of investigation, everybody will face the full wrath of the law. Members of the panel are people of impeccable integrity and I will be signing an executive order to give the panel a legal backing.”

Other terms of reference of the panel include, determining whether there was full compliance with physical planning and building materials laws of the State; determining whether there was supervisory or oversight lapses on the part of regulatory agencies, and making necessary recommendations to guard against recurrence of similar incidents.

Sanwo-Olu maintained that it was difficult for the Government to know the exact number of people trapped, noting that none of the people linked to the housing project had come forward to offer information on the manifest.